A New Hope (The Second Chance Series Book 2) (10 page)

BOOK: A New Hope (The Second Chance Series Book 2)
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Chapter Twenty-Seven

 

 

“Sir, I don’t know who you think you are, but I would know if my son was drinking. He’s a very smart young man and knows that drinking at his age is illegal.” Mr. Logan said in a clipped tone.

“Mr. Logan, Chase is a very smart young man, we all know that, but even smart young men choose to rebel and drinking is the most common form of rebellion amongst teenage boys.” Andrew told him, hoping to get him to understand the graveness of this situation.

“I think you’re wrong, but let’s call Chase in here and ask him.” Mr. Logan said and picked up his cell phone. He dialed a number and quickly spoke, “Chase, I need to see you in the library now.” Without giving Chase a chance to respond, he hung up and laid is phone down. “He’ll be here in just a minute.”

“Mr. Logan, do you honestly think he’s going to openly admit to drinking illegally? I don’t know any teenager who would do that. None of my boys would, that’s for sure.” Mark said, knowing that two of his sons had tried alcohol.

“If he lies I’ll know.” Mr. Logan said as Chase opened the library door and walked in.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Chase asked, standing with his back straight and his arms at his sides like he was standing at attention and talking to a commanding officer.

“Yes. Chase, Dr. Peterson and Dr. Newberry came by to see me this morning. They are concerned because they think you may be drinking.” Mr. Logan said with a slight glance at Mark and Andrew.

Chase’s head snapped to the side and the color faded from his skin when he saw them sitting there. “Sir,” he said as his head turned back to his father, “I don’t know where they would get that idea from, but I have not been drinking. I know that drinking at my age is illegal and I would never do anything to ruin your image.”

“Chase,” Mark said as he stood from his chair. “Callie talked to me yesterday. She told me everything that’s been happening over the past couple of weeks.”

Chase’s face paled more and he locked eyes with his father. “I don’t know what he’s talking about, sir.” Chase said, but his voice was starting to break as fear of what his father might do overcame him.

“Chase Nathanial Logan, how dare you stand there and lie to me.” Mr. Logan said and Chase paled even more. “Dr. Newberry, Dr. Peterson, I am sorry for doubting you. Rest assured that I will take care of this.”

Mark and Andrew looked at each other and then back at Chase before either spoke. “Are you going to be okay, son?” Mark asked him.

“Yes, sir. Thank you for asking.” Chase answered with a shaky voice.

“You two may go. I need to have a private talk with my son.” Mr. Logan said as he walked over and opened the library door. “Helen will see you out.”

After taking one last look at Chase’s stiff form Mark and Andrew left, but neither felt comfortable with it.

Once they were outside and in Andrew’s car Mark said, “I did not like leaving him.” 

“Neither did I. I think I’ll put in a call to my brother-in-law and let him know what I suspect.” Andrew said and made a mental note to call Bob after he got to the hospital for his rotation later.

As they pulled away from the house Mr. Logan watched from the library window. Once they were gone he turned to Chase. “How dare you lie to me in front of them.”

“I am sorry, sir. I didn’t want to shame you so I thought lying would be best.”

“You shamed me more by lying.” He said as he pulled off his belt. “Now I’m going to be late for work because I have to deal with you.”

Chase knew what was coming. He knew it the moment his father called him. The only time they ever spoke was when he was in trouble for something. “I am sorry, sir. I will stop drinking and stop seeing Callie too, if that’s what you want.”

“What I want is respect and by lying to me you showed the exact opposite. Now you must pay for your mistakes. You know what to do.”

Chase had been here many times over the years and knew what to expect. His father was a very intolerable man and anything he deemed unacceptable was punished by lashes with his belt. Today’s offense would be the worst in a while.
Just a couple more years,
he thought to himself. He was leaving the day he turned eighteen and no one was going to stop him.

As his father struck his back with the crisp leather of his belt Chase held his breath. He had learned that if he made no noise then it would be over quickly, but if he made any sounds at all his father would draw it out as long as possible. Today he counted fifteen lashes before his father was finished, that was five more than usual.

When he straightened up he could feel the welts forming on his back, but he gritted his teeth and kept silent. “Are you ever going to disgrace me like that again?” his father asked.

“No, sir.” He answered as a plan was forming in his head.

“See that you don’t. Now I must get to the office. I have a client meeting in fifteen minutes and I’m already running late because of you. Do not leave the house today for any reason. Helen will tell me if you do.”

“Yes, sir.” Chase answered again.

“You’re dismissed.” His father said without looking at him.

When Chase walked out of the library he went straight to his room and grabbed his cell phone. Callie was the one who caused this and now she would have to pay for it too.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

When Callie’s phone rang she looked at the caller ID and cringed. “It’s Chase.” She said to Karla, Rylee and Kiara. They had all been in Karla’s room getting ready for a day of shopping with Leslie.

“Answer it, but put him on speaker so we can all hear.” Rylee said and Callie obliged.

“Hello Chase.” She said softly, waiting for his anger.

“Why did you have to go running your mouth? You have ruined everything. If you were too much of a baby to take our relationship to the next level you could have just told me and I would have walked away. Now you have crossed the line and I will make you pay for what you have done.”

“Chase, I was worried about you and scared. I’m sorry, but I think you need help.”

“I don’t need the kind of help you’ve given me.”

“I care about you, Chase and I just want what’s best for you.”

“You care about me? Ha. If you cared about me you would have kept your mouth shut and given me what I wanted. You don’t care about me.”

“I do care about you, Chase. I’m just scared for you. You’ve changed and I’m worried about you.”

“Well you don’t have to worry anymore. I’m done, Callie. We’re finished and if I ever see you again you will pay for doing this.” With that he hung up and Callie burst into tears.

Karla wrapped her arms around Callie and held her tight as her tears flowed freely. They had all known it would be bad, but none of them expected him to threaten Callie.

Kiara, Rylee and Karla all looked at each other over Callie’s head and nodded. They would talk to Andrew later and tell him what Chase said. Maybe he would be able to help them understand.

When Callie raised her head off Karla`s shoulders the tears had stopped flowing freely, but a single tear clung to her lashes and her sapphire eyes were filled with the pain of losing her first love. “I had hoped he would understand that what I did was out of love, but I guess he’s just too far gone for me to make him understand.”

Kiara got up from her place on the floor and sat on the bed beside Callie, “He will someday. For now you’re better off without him though. If you had not said something he would have continued down this road and gotten himself, or someone else, hurt or killed. Always remember that you did the right thing.”

“I keep telling myself that I did, but it feels so wrong.”

“I know Cal, but you did do the right thing. I would do the same thing if it were Dominic.” Rylee reassured her.

“And I would if it were Conner.” Karla added.

“I should have when I was in this same situation. I didn’t and I regret it every day of my life.” Kiara added.

“Thank you all for being here.” Callie said as she wiped the last remaining tear from her eyes. “I don’t know what I would do without my sisters.”

“We don’t know what we would do without you either.” Karla said as she hugged her again. “Now let’s finish getting ready so we can go shopping.”

Callie smiled at Karla and nodded her head. Once they were ready they walked downstairs and found the guys in the kitchen. Conner was eating an apple and Karla rolled her eyes at him. “Didn’t you just eat two waffles and several pieces of bacon?” She asked him.

“Yep, but I’m a growing boy and need my nutrition.” He answered with a grin and took another huge bite of the apple.

She laughed at him and walked to where Leslie was sitting. “We’re ready whenever you are Leslie.” She said.

“Give me ten minutes to finish this design and email it then I’ll be ready.” Leslie answered her.

“Awesome.” Karla responded and sat at the table beside Conner.

Callie sat on Conner’s other side, across from Manuel and looked at the table.

“You’ve been crying.” Manuel observed from where he sat.

“Yes,” she responded “but it’s none of your concern.”

“Who made you cry?” He asked, but didn’t know why. She was right, it isn’t his concern.

“I don’t need another big brother looking out for me.” She snapped and stood up. “I’ll be in the family room. When you’re ready to go just come get me.”

“Callie, wait.” Manuel said and followed her to the family room. “I’m sorry. For some reason that I can’t explain I feel the need to protect you. I know you don’t need another big brother, but I can’t help it.”

“Well try. You’ll be going back home in five days, I think you can control it for that length of time.”

“I’ll do my best, but when I can see that you’ve been crying it’s hard to control it. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Chase called me a little while ago and broke up with me. I figured he would, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“I’m sorry Callie. I wish I could help with that.” He said and when a single tear dripped from her lashes and started trailing down her face he gently reached out and wiped it away with his thumb. He locked his deep brown eyes on her sapphire ones and smiled softly at her. “I know the pain of a first break-up is intense, but I promise it will ease with time. Someday you will meet the one who won’t break your heart and when you do all the pain from the past will disappear and happiness will fill all the holes left behind.”

Before she could respond Karla walked in and said they were ready to go. When they walked out of the room Callie paused at the door and turned to face Manuel. “Thank you,” was all she said before she turned again and walked out.   

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 

The next morning Karla woke early and headed downstairs. She grabbed a muffin and a glass of milk and headed out the back door to the screened-in porch. She sat at the table and thought back to this time last year when she awoke alone in a run down, one room apartment. That day she was beaten and broken and alone, today she was whole and had found the life she had always dreamed of. She sat there for a long time remembering that day, her fourteenth birthday, and the day her life changed forever. She had come so far in the past year that she almost didn’t recognize the girl she was. Then she was scared and didn’t trust anyone. She was afraid everyone was out to hurt her somehow, but now she knew that was just how Diane wanted her to feel. She’d wanted her to be frightened of everyone so she wouldn’t ever tell anyone what was going on.

When she heard the back door open she looked around and saw Elliot standing there. She smiled and patted the seat next to her, “Want to join me?”

“Sure.” He answered and sat beside her. “Are you okay, Karla?” He asked tentatively.

“I’m better than okay Elliot. I was just thinking about this past year. It was one year ago today that Diane was arrested and I was finally away from her.”

“She was arrested on your birthday?” Elliot asked. He was a little surprised by this.

“Yep. I woke up alone in a small, dirty apartment that morning. Her boyfriend, Garrett, had beat me pretty bad the night before and I was in a lot of pain. I was also hungry. I went to a small grocery store and tried to steal some spaghetti and meatballs, crackers and peanut butter and I was caught by Detective Trent Greeves, you’ll meet him later today along with Captain John McGraw and Mrs. Jones. That was the luckiest day of my life.”

Elliot sat there quietly while Karla relived all the horrors she lived through with their mother and when she was finished he leaned over a put his head on her shoulder, offering her a little comfort. “I’m glad I never met her.” He said when she wrapped her arm around him.

“I am too, Elliot. She was like a vacuum that sucked all the happiness out of everyone. I am so glad you were never affected by her.”

“I’m so sorry you were.” He responded.

She didn’t say anything in response as they sat there together and watched the sky change from the smoky gray of early morning to the oranges and purples of the start of a new day and finally to the bright blue, which signaled a sunny day ahead. A perfect day for a backyard barbeque with family and friends.

When Leslie walked out ten minutes later they were still sitting in that same position, staring at the sky and lost in their own thoughts. “You two want omelets this morning?” She asked and they both turned to look at her.

“Yes, please.” Elliot answered and Karla just nodded.

“Okay. I’ll get those started. Happy birthday, Karla.” Leslie said then disappeared back inside to start breakfast.

“I guess I’ll go help her.” Karla said and pulled her arms away from Elliot.

“Thank you for telling me everything.” Elliot said as he stood up.

“You needed to know, Elliot. Thank you for listening. I guess I just needed to get it all out today. Maybe now I can truly bury it all and leave it behind.” She said as she opened the back door and went inside. Elliot followed her and immediately started helping. When Andrew, Manuel and Kiara came down they jumped in a helped too. They made breakfast as a family, which was exactly what they were.

After breakfast Andrew went out back to make sure the backyard was ready for the day and Elliot and Manuel went to help him. Kiara went upstairs to call and check on her grandmother and Karla stayed to help Leslie clean up. When they were gone Karla turned to Leslie, “I told Elliot everything this morning.”

“Oh, what was his reaction?” Leslie asked, slightly shocked that Karla would tell him this soon.

“He said he was glad he never met her and that he’s sorry I had to live through all of that. I hadn’t planned on telling him yet, but I was sitting outside thinking about it when he came out. It just kind of started flowing and didn’t stop until it was all out.”

“Are you okay, honey?” Leslie asked, worried that today would spark bad memories for Karla.

“I am. I didn’t think I would be, but I really am okay. I needed to tell Elliot before I could fully close that door, but now that I have I’m ready to leave it behind completely.”

“I am so happy to hear that.” Leslie said as she wrapped Karla in a huge hug. “Today is a happy day and soon all your friends will be here and we can celebrate this happy day.”

Just then the doorbell rang and Karla smiled. She couldn’t wait to spend this birthday surrounded by the people she loved.

BOOK: A New Hope (The Second Chance Series Book 2)
7.82Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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